by Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

by Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports

THE FIRST WORD: Heading into this season, Michigan coach John Beilein was wary of the high expectations set for his team coming off a national runner-up finish last year.

"There was incredible focus. Do we have that again?" Beilein asked. "That's the most challenging thing."

For the better part of the Wolverines' tumultuous non-conference slate - they finished 8-4 with a loss to Charlotte as the lowlight and a win vs. Stanford as the highlight - it looked as though they didn't have it in them. The chances for an encore seemed dismal, even with spectacular play during the Big Ten season, the loss of top player Mitch McGary (he's likely out the rest of the season for back surgery) derailed any of the preseason hype that hovered over Ann Arbor back in November.

The forecast read something like this: A middle-of-the-pack Big Ten finish, a semifinal conference tournament loss and a second or third-round loss in the NCAA tournament.

Wrong.

Wrong.

Wrong.

Saturday's 80-75 road victory vs. shorthanded Michigan State catapulted Michigan (15-4, 7-0) to the top of the country's toughest conference. Opening 4-0 in league play didn't seem so stunning considering the Wolverines' soft start in the schedule (Minnesota, Northwestern, Nebraska, Penn State). But after three consecutive wins against the three teams expected to contend for the title (Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State), there's no need to nitpick at Michigan's NCAA tournament résumé. Michigan is the first team since at least the 1996-97 season to win three consecutive games against top-10 teams in the regular season, according to STATS.

***

As we enter February, here's all you really need to know about Michigan.

Nik Stauskas is the best shooter in the country. So much talk heading into the season surrounded McGary and Glenn Robinson III. After a blistering hot January (he's shooting 44% from beyond the arc on the season), consider Stauskas as the most-improved player in the country. The sophomore sharpshooter, who went 5-for-6 from three vs. MSU, leads the Big Ten in scoring (18.5 ppg) and can score just as comfortably off the dribble as he can coming off screens. Additionally, his handle is so much better, and he's dishing out close to four assists per game.

Michigan might be better without McGary. Sounds crazy right? McGary was due for a breakout season, but his absence has forced the group to move the ball much more and not rely so heavily on his paint presence. Defensively it's a different story. Plus, McGary isn't a bad cheerleader on the sidelines. Props to him for showing energy while dealing with a tough injury and continuing to boost the team moral.

Michigan has national title potential. The Wolverines' could easily buckle considering the grueling grind of the Big Ten. Last year's Trey Burke-led squad finished 12-6 in league play. Still, we're talking potential here. Despite losing two players to the first round of the NBA draft, Michigan has a top-10 offense for the second consecutive season. More than the offensive potency, though, they're doing the little things like outrebounding opponents. Will the Wolverines earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs? Probably not. But that toughness factor that defines the Wichita States of the world is there. And as Beilein hinted at, much of the Wolverines' success hinges upon focus.

TWEET THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES: Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart kicked a chair in the Cowboys' 81-75 win over West Virginia. To sum up his frustration from foul trouble: He scored just four points in 25 minutes, his lowest scoring output of the season. He shot 1-for-7 from the floor. After the game, he apologized to his team via Twitter.

AT THE BUZZER: Oakland's Duke Mondy lifted the Grizzlies to a 76-75 win over Illinois-Chicago.

***

CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: The SEC had goals to rectify its 2013 NCAA tournament misfortune (three NCAA tournament bids for the power conference). As USA TODAY Sports' Eric Prisbell writes, the league isn't on pace to trump last year's outcome. The SEC has two potential Final Four teams - Florida and Kentucky - and a cluster of teams that have yet to distinguish or separate themselves. The SEC could see as many as five teams make the NCAAs. A doomsday scenario also exists for it to earn only two bids. The Gators stayed perfect in SEC play on Saturday with a beatdown of Tennessee, while the Wildcats drubbed Georgia to stay close on Florida's heels. Meanwhile, among the bubble SEC teams, Ole Miss seems to be emerging as the conference's third best team. The Rebels routed Mississippi State on Saturday to jump ahead of other tourney-worthy squads Missouri, LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas.

UNDER THE RADAR: Ahem, Texas. The Longhorns (16-4, 5-2) have now won five in a row following a 74-60 road win at Baylor, spearheaded by freshman guard Isaiah Taylor's career-high 27 points. Coach Rick Barnes' job security seemed in jeopardy heading into 2013-14 after a strand of disappointing seasons. That outlook has seemed to change. "I guess I went from being dumb to being smart," Barnes said after the win. Texas owns four victories this season against ranked opponents. Last season, the Longhorns won just one of their 10 games vs. ranked foes.

STAR WATCH: Kansas' Andrew Wiggins finally played like the Andrew Wiggins we've been expecting since he signed with the Jayhawks, going for 27 points in KU's 91-66 shellacking of TCU. "He was a little thirsty to score in the first half," Bill Self told reporters after the game. It's about time.

COACH'S CORNER: USA TODAY Sports' Nicole Auerbach went 1-on-1 with Creighton's Greg McDermott. Creighton continued its Big East title push, toppling Georgetown 76-63 to improve to 7-1 in league play. Remember when this Doug McDermott-led squad was a disrespected mid-major team in the Missouri Valley. The Big East hasn't been the Big East this year, but it's certainly a step up from the Valley.

***

THE UNBEATENS: Two of the remaining undefeated squads were in action on Saturday and both took care of business. Syracuse started sluggish in its game over Miami, but held the Hurricanes to a 7-minute scoring drought to rally for a comfortable road victory. The Orange are now 19-0 and 6-0 in ACC play. Wichita State also played on the road and had little trouble at Drake to improve to 21-0.

WINNERS, LOSERS: Breaking down Saturday's victories that matter the most and the losses that stain résumés the worst.

WINNERS

Providence: Defeated Xavier 81-72. The Friars continue to punctuate their NCAA tourney credentials and are drifting further and further on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble.

Villanova: Defeated Marquette 94-85 in OT. After falling victim to Creighton's lights-out shooting last week, the Wildcats avoided the Golden Eagles' upset bid in a game that had coach Jay Wright livid on a questionable charge call at the end of regulation. Villanova, which stayed in striking distance of the first-place Bluejays, overcame a 29-point, 13-rebound effort from Davante Gardner. James Bell had 30 points, while Ryan Arcidiacono showed off a clutch gene to finish with 20 points and 11 assists.

San Diego State: Defeated Utah State 74-69 in OT. Considering just how difficult it is to win at USU's Smith Spectrum, this road victory can't be underestimated (even if it is by the NCAA committee). Xavier Thames was the hero again for Steve Fisher's group, finishing with 31 points and coming up with 10 crucial overtime points to carry the Aztecs to their 17th consecutive win.

Virginia Commonwealth: Defeated La Salle 97-89 in OT. The Rams trailed by six points with less than a minute remaining but Treveon Graham put the team on his back to force the extra frame. Judging by the score, this game was bonkers. And there were some ridiculous individual stat lines. Graham had 34 points and 12 rebounds while teammate Juvonte Reddic had 27 points and 15 rebounds. The Explorers' Tyrone Garland finished with 30 points in the loss.

Iowa State: Defeated Kansas State 81-75. It's safe to say the Cyclones needed this home victory. It snapped a rough three-game skid for Iowa State and brought Fred Hoiberg's cast back to .500 in conference action.

LOSERS

Baylor: Lost to Texas 74-60. Heading into Big 12 play, the Bears owned a 12-1 record with impressive wins. Saturday's loss wasn't so much a bad loss - considering the Longhorns' rise - but nevertheless it dropped Baylor to 1-5 in league action with their latest home loss. The strong non-conference slate is a nice safety net for Baylor's overall resume, sure, but considering the surprising depth of the Big 12 and the Bears' upcoming stretch - Oklahoma State and Kansas are on deck - it's definitely time to hit the panic button for Scott Drew's group.

Colorado: Lost to Arizona State 72-51. Granted this was on the road, but the Buffaloes are clearly sputtering. Colorado (15-6) is 1-4 since losing Spencer Dinwiddie and the chemistry without the team's lead catalyst has been ugly, evidenced by 19 turnovers and 18% three-point shooting vs. ASU.

Maryland: Lost 83-79 to Pittsburgh. Well, it was an improvement considering the Terrapins' 20-point loss to the Panthers earlier in the month and it took 28 points from Lamar Patterson to beat Maryland on its home surface. Maryland's 11-9 record after 20 games is its worst since the Terps finished 12-16 in 1992-93, the program's last losing season.

Brigham Young: Lost 84-69 to Gonzaga. Beating the Bulldogs on their homecourt in WCC play is virtually impossible but the Cougars sure could have used a bounce-back win against a top 25 team for confidence-boosting and resume-benefiting purposes. That's because BYU's stake as the WCC's second best team has quickly disintegrated in large part thanks to a 114-110 triple overtime loss at Portland earlier in the week. Saturday's setback was simply salt to the wound.

Notre Dame: Lost 65-58 to Wake Forest. If it wasn't already obvious, the Irish (11-9, 2-5) aren't a postseason team. Notre Dame's struggled since losing top player Jerian Grant and their first year in the ACC's been awful.

ON DECK: Breaking down the best matchups to watch on Sunday. All times Eastern.

- Illinois at Indiana (3 p.m., Big Ten Network)

- SMU at Houston (3 p.m., ESPNews)

- California at UCLA (8 p.m., Pac-12 Network)

- Utah at Arizona (8 p.m., FOX Sports 1)

***

Scott Gleeson, a national college basketball writer/digital producer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.